I had been in kind of a funk lately, and for no apparent reason. The worse I felt, the angrier I got at myself because my life is actually pretty darn good.

So I analyzed my situation.

What I realized was that I was ‘off’ in many areas of my life.

For one, it is summer, so that means my life has lost all sense of routine.   I love routine.  I am still like a little baby that likes to wake up at a certain time, eat at a certain time, and go to sleep at a certain time.  Now, my kids are up way later than they usually are, and anything goes. Well, not anything.  They still have to follow basic rules, but they stay up later and sleep in longer.  That plan does not work for me. I have accepted that my 16 year old will be staying up later than me and I just crawl off to bed when I need to.

Next, I thought about my eating habits.  Between recent birthdays and baking binges, I have been eating my unfair share of brownies (always accompanied by milk) and other treats.   Whereas brownies are delicious, they don’t necessary make for the most sensible breakfast.  (I didn’t have brownies for breakfast everyday, just when they really beckoned me.  Remember, there was the big glass of milk too…)  Besides brownies, I had been eating out a bit more because frankly, I was crabby and didn’t feel up to preparing a giant meal.

I then looked around the house, and saw disarray.  I saw how clutter was affecting my mood.  I just didn’t really want to be home because I knew the stack of paper on the coffee table would be greeting me when I walked in the door.

Finally, I thought about the last time I had exercised.  It had been awhile because I was sick.  I know that the longer I sit, the worse I feel.  It reminded me of being on bed rest when I was pregnant.  The more I laid on the couch, the more tired I became.  I had no energy whatsoever.  I think that awful summer cold caught me in a somewhat sedentary cycle.

Well no more!  I went and fixed my problems.   There are no more brownies in the house (because I ate the last one).  I now wake up nice and early everyday and get things started immediately, including a healthy breakfast.  Lastly, I have been walking at least 2 miles each morning.  I get all of this done before my kids even roll out of bed in the morning, so the day is then free to do whatever we want, without the worry about what is waiting to be done at home.  As far as the stack of papers on the coffee table- well I do still have a couple bills to pay.  After that, my ‘fixing’ will be complete.  I will say that I do feel much better.  (As a side note, I am not being all Tom Cruise and saying a few simple changes can fix serious depression.  My situation was more ‘being bummed’ than depression, therefore, it was much easier to fix.)

Have you ever found yourself feeling kinda blah and found a way to get through it?   What made you feel bad?   What was your key to success?